MFB 301 pro: The (new) 40-Year-Old Drum Machine

8 vintage analog drum machine sounds from 1979 in the only new re-issue that's not a Behringer Clone, MFB keeps the sound engine and weird DIY electronic form factor, but adds extensive MIDI Support.
( Dear ROLAND, this is how it's done! )
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[@jrodohio]

I still come back to this video, forgetting how good this sounds.

[@SyncdAlien]

Interesting!! Thank you for the demo!

[@Digithalis]

old but gold: i love the drum sounds! :-)

[@jrodohio]

I've been keeping my eye on this for a bit. Love those old drum machine sounds as well.

[@NEALBEARD2]

Great demo. I have a 522 which had been my go to for years... I love also blending in cr78 samples so will definitely get this. MFB rules. Thanks.

[@OlivierOzoux]

Thanks, yeah I already had the dancing bear, and the 301 sounds different enough to keep both

[@anthonybryan9620]

R.I.P Manfred Fricke MFB founder

[@LouisSerieusement]

R.I.P MFB 😭

[@untml]

the "reverb on everything " is confusing

[@thestatpow5]

I agree

[@jmcbeady8210]

Welcome back.

[@cjk-28-JockeK]

Great presentation Olivier! I'm thinking of controlling my 301 Pro with a Digitakt soon. I felt that setting up my Beatstep Pro as controller, meant that I got dependant of Arturia Midi Control center. As you wrote, Roland should learn from what a small company in Germany can create, at a low cost ;-) Their MFB Dominion 1, also show great imagination and skills :-) I'm thinking of completing my setup, with their upcoming poly synth Synth Pro, when they will be available.

[@syrupcore]

Would be a bonus if this came filled with 70s style preset drum machine rhythms like pop, rock, waltz, disco, cha-cha, mambo, "16th", etc. Then you could use it like it is in the video (via external sequencer with lots of control) as well as plop it atop your piano for full living room mambo fun-times.

[@OscillatorSink]

Nice new melodic synth.

[@OlivierOzoux]

Ha ha ha thanks. I was planning to use it as a melodic synth, but just the sound overview was already 10min long. Also I don’t want to take over your schtick 😜

[@cepheid4288]

Would be an exceptional companion for my Machinedrum. Digital + Analog for the win.

[@OlivierOzoux]

Yup, I love drum machines. in my opinion, you need 3. one classic analog, one sample based ( preferably Elektron ) and one with a comprehensive drum synthesis engine.

[@thestatpow5]

9:31 That is a weird bongo sound. I like it!

[@OlivierOzoux]

IMHO the MFB301 is worth it for that sound alone. it's has that lo-fi gamecube tennis ball hit feel to it. pop! pop! Definitely using it in a track soon!

[@Latvian3Dman]

Nice :)

[@McOwenWilson]

Love the sounds from this thing--and a great price. Would a Beatstep Pro control this thing as easily as you are with your Squarp? With the correct mapping and whatnot? I'm pretty much midi-tarded.

[@OlivierOzoux]

I’ve never owned a Beatstep Pro, but if it can send MIDI CC messages as part of a sequence or map them to its encoders, you’re good to go!

[@manfrombkk]

Would be cool to use with the Polysend Seq. Maybe add effects pedal on the outboard

[@OlivierOzoux]

I finally unwrapped my Plankton Spice that was stuck under the tree all of December. I'll use the 301 as a source for that video

[@FunkTree]

Oliver all the best in 2020

[@OlivierOzoux]

Thanks! Same to you

[@WxkR]

The sounds are superb specially for the price. Can the parameters (pitch, decay, etc.) be controlled from the box itself or an external controller is needed?

[@OlivierOzoux]

They can. You can program patterns directly with the unit and control all the parameters. But that interface is a complete disaster, so I’m planning to only drive it as a sound engine over MIDI.

[@Niibetek]

Does it have the same punch/power/raw sound of the Tanzbaer 1? Or it is more polished as Tanzbaer lite and Tanzmaus?

[@OlivierOzoux]

I'm not familiar with the Tanzbär 1 so I'd say it's closer to the Tanzbär Lite ( which I do own ) it doesn't sound the same, but I can mix and match individual voices from the 301 and the Lite and they sound related, if that helps.

[@darwinsaye]

Can you make all the adjustments and access all the different, longer sounds and such, from the standalone machine? Or do you need something else, like whatever that box is you are using to adjust everything?

[@OlivierOzoux]

You can access everything from the front panel, but it's a combination of button presses and the encoder. an external device or sequencer that can send MIDI CC makes it much nicer to use.

[@herrfrickejunior2466]

Hey Olivier, really appreciate your work and the effort you put in this video! Really loved the style of this. If you would maybe like to coorperate with us on other Videos such as these, please don't hesitate to shoot me an DM on here including your e-mail I will for sure get back to you to see if we can work out something :) All the Best! JMF

[@OlivierOzoux]

Sure, you can email me from the about page in my channel. kzbin.infoabout

[@wickedmonroe]

Is it easy to program the cc channels just using the box?

[@OlivierOzoux]

yes, once you select a voice, the main encoder and button combo modifies it. pretty simple.

[@nebula0697]

Could I map my DrumBrute's pads to the instruments and its knobs to the parameters?

[@OlivierOzoux]

you can program the voices in the MFB301 to listen to different MIDI notes, so I'd say yes for the notes, but for the knobs to work, the Drumbrute needs to allow then to be mapped to specific MIDI CC messages, because that's not configurable on the 301. ( Disclaimer, I don't have a DB )

[@nebula0697]

@@OlivierOzoux Thanks, I will look into it about the mapping of the knobs. The Drumbrute has the perfect interface but the Vermona, Tanzbar, and MFB have the cool sounds.

[@mattbrown-mb]

Thanks for this, maybe stop your lens down a bit so the device is in focus :)

[@OlivierOzoux]

Maximum Bokeh or Death! 😜

[@mrcgeraldes]

What midi controller are you using? Thx

[@OlivierOzoux]

In general I’m using the Squarp Pyramid as my main MIDI sequencer, and a pretty standard MIDI keyboard ( midiplus X6 mini ). It’s been a while but I think I wasn’t using the pyramid for that demo, and mapped the various CC from the drum machine to the knobs on the Pyramid.

[@waltrohrbach2459]

The very first Fricke drummachine was a kit as far as i remember, yep 1979 sounds about right, i build the kit machine and it definetely had a better groove than the bigger and more expensive ready made Box of early eighties MFB 301 which was a little disappointing. So i wonder,the intial kit machine would be great. So this seems a clone of the bigger one....no rather not i guess.

[@richardnolan3903]

Can I use this thing on its own, or do I need all that other gear?

[@OlivierOzoux]

Yup, you can totally use this thing on its own, it has tiny buttons and a single dial, but there’s an onboard sequencer and everything. As long as you realize that being a retro/vintage piece of gear, you’ll program it like a 80s VCR

[@richardnolan3903]

@@OlivierOzoux Thank You

[@holografik3327]

hi olivier, i'd like to see / hear a jam with this beatiful tiny drumbox

[@OlivierOzoux]

Me too! I’m definitely planning to use it in my next track.

[@jordimoraguesmassanet1179]

This machine does have independent instrument volume.

[@OlivierOzoux]

Well each instrument has 12 velocity sensitive levels, but to me that’s not volume control. However because it’s an all analog path, I’m sure there are traces on the board that could be tapped for individual out mods.

[@jordimoraguesmassanet1179]

It's not just velocity. Levels can be set per instrument with the sequencer running or stopped. Just press Value, then an instrument button (keep it pressed), then rotate Value to change the volume of that instrument. With the sequencer running, depending on which LED above Value is lit, you can change the volume of just one instrument or the whole pattern. I agree that the interface is cryptic, but it's amazing how much functionality they crammed into it. There's even a swing function and a song mode.

[@OlivierOzoux]

Jordi Moragues I don’t use the internal sequencer at all, and there is no CC messages to control the volume. I wonder if there is a way to control the volume of each voice using the 301pro as a sound engine only

[@jordimoraguesmassanet1179]

I just mentioned the sequencer because it's a way to mute parts or change their volume during playback. You're right that there aren't CCs to affect instrument volume. Perhaps they left them out because that's relatively easy to do through the front control panel.

[@claesvanoldenphatt9972]

You never explained how to play it.

[@OlivierOzoux]

Oops I thought this was a comment for another video. You play it over MIDI, or you step program patterns and press play.

[@HOLODECK-MUSIC-PROJECT]

This is a tutorial, how to make a bad review video (esp. for a drum machine)